Service Overview
MQIP Benefits
Pilot Case Studies
Eligibility
How to Apply
The Metadata Quality Improvement Program (MQIP) supports HathiTrust members that have deposited content in improving, correcting, and enhancing their own catalogs – the source records for all HathiTrust items. HathiTrust will grant catalog-wide full text access to any senior-level metadata professional at a participating, eligible institution for the purposes of metadata remediation and/or enrichment of records in their local catalog. Participating institutions will then be able to view the full-text scan for all items in the HathiTrust Digital Library for use in improving their local catalog records. Once updated locally, the records must then be resubmitted to HathiTrust, thereby improving the records in the HathiTrust catalog and benefitting the entire collection for all users.
MQIP Requests Round 1 Accepted Feb 16 through Mar 9
The Metadata Quality Improvement Program will open for applications on February 16th, 2023, and remain open for 3 weeks. Another round will open in June. Regardless of how many metadata professionals from each institution will granted access, applications for the program itself should come from a manager or higher to demonstrate institutional investment. Questions on application process should be directed to support@hathitrust.org
See below for eligibility criteria.
MQIP Benefits
- Improves efficiency of metadata enrichment and remediation
- Empowers cataloging staff without adding to the work of non-cataloging staff.
- Reduces need to retrieve physical volumes from storage or stacks
- Provides remote work option for day-to-day cataloging
- Enables DEIA-focused remediation and other large-scale analysis projects
Pilot Case Studies
“I call it my HathiTrust Super Power” – Laura E. Daniels, Assistant Director, Metadata Production, Cornell University Library
Pilot participants in fall 2022 – Penn State University, University of Virginia, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California - San Diego, Harvard University, Cornell University, and the University of Michigan – were able to invest time in metadata enrichment and remediation projects that would otherwise have been difficult to pursue.
University of Michigan: In this 2-year project, 13 catalogers enhanced nearly 23,000 records in 26 languages without needing to pull physical materials from shelves or storage.
University of California - San Diego: Catalogers have been working through reviewing copyright and enhancing metadata for serials from The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Collection without needing to physically pull volumes from storage or stacks. Between May and September of 2022 they reviewed 153 titles and identified 33 of them that needed chron data added to the item info. Ultimately they were able to resubmit 652 records that had been improved.
For more information on the pilots and the program, watch the introductory webinar on MQIP.
Eligibility
To be eligible to participate in this phase of the program, institutions must meet the following criteria.
- Must Be a Depositing Institution
- HathiTrust can only be updated with records from the institutions that deposited the items, therefore the first criterion is that only depositing institutions are eligible at this time. See list of depositing institutions to find out if your institution is eligible.
- Have a Plan for a Local Metadata Project
- Interested institutions must have a metadata project in the works. This does not need to be a clearly defined or resource-heavy project. It could be as simple as a project with a list of all of the records for items an institution has submitted to HathiTrust and working through those records as resources allow.
- After the initial project has completed to the satisfaction of the institution, continuing participation in the program is not tied to the existence of an internal project. Even during the duration of the initial project, access may also be used to support day-to-day cataloging and metadata activities.
- Have a Current Process for Metadata Submission to HathiTrust
- The institution must have a current process for submitting updated records established with HathiTrust for approval. Having done so in the past or at the point of initial deposit does not mean there is a current workflow.
- If a process is not yet in place or an institution has migrated ILSs since the last time records were submitted, HathiTrust will work with members to re-establish the process.
- Identify Senior-Level Metadata Staff Who Will Participate in the Work
- Only metadata professionals that have senior-level responsibilities and will be doing the metadata work are eligible.
- Each institution may have multiple individuals that can be granted access as long as they each meet the criteria of job responsibilities.
- Each participating individual will need to agree to and sign the Collection Administration Access Terms of Use.
- CAA is not for personal use or job duties outside of the scope of metadata responsibilities (e.g. reference desk support).
- Supervisor-only roles are not eligible.
- Student workers are not eligible.
- Have Designated a Point-person
- Each institution will designate a contact person from among the participants so that we can keep in contact for questions of use and other concerns.
How to Apply to MQIP
Please contact support@hathitrust.org and indicate your interest in applying, or if you have any questions about the eligibility criteria.